Climate Services and Communication for Development: The Role of Early Career Researchers in Advancing the Debate

Climate services entail providing timely and tailored climate information to end-users in order to facilitate and improve decision-making processes. Climate services are instrumental in socio-economic development and benefit substantially from interdisciplinary collaborations, particularly when including Early Career Researchers (ECRs). This commentary critically discusses deliberations from an interdisciplinary workshop involving ECRs from the United Kingdom and South Africa in 2017, to discuss issues in climate adaptation and climate services development in water resources, food security and agriculture. Outcomes from the discussions revolved around key issues somewhat marginalized within the broader climate service discourse. This commentary discusses what constitutes “effective” communication, framings (user framings, mental models, narratives, co-production) and ethical dimensions in developing climate services that can best serve end-users. It also reflects on how ECRs can help tackle these important thematic areas and advance the discourse on climate services.     

基于结构方程模型的地铁乘客安全行为影响因素分析

为了研究地铁乘客安全行为的影响因素,通过对北京、上海、广州、深圳等城市的地铁乘客的多项安全指标的抽样调查,建立了关于乘客安全行为的结构方程模型,研究了影响地铁乘客安全行为的主要因素。结果表明:良好的地铁安全氛围能有效提高乘客的安全知识水平、安全动机、安全心理水平、安全参与行为水平;安全参与行为水平同时受到乘客安全知识水平和乘客接受安全培训状况的影响,其中,乘客安全知识水平的高低取决于乘客接受安全培训状况;安全服从行为则与安全动机存在较强的正相关关系;乘客的安全心理水平只跟地铁安全氛围有关,安全氛围越好,乘客安全心理水平越高,安全知识作为中介变量同时影响着安全氛围与安全参与行为、安全培训与安全参与行为、安全氛围与安全动机以及安全培训与安全动机之间的关系,提高乘客安全知识水平是提高乘客安全行为水平的重要途径。     

Incorporating GIS and MCE for Suitability Assessment Modelling of Coral Reef Resources

Assessment, planning and management for coral reef ecosystems are particularly challenging tasks, especially in developing countries. In this study, a methodological approach which integrates Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multicriteria Evaluation (MCE) for the development of suitability assessment models for a variety of uses of coral reef resources is discussed. Such an approach is sustained by an extensive use of local expert knowledge coded in the form of automated decision trees (DTs). The usefulness of the approach and the models developed is demonstrated by their application to the participatory assessment and resources planning at “Alacranes Reef National Park” (ARNP), Yucatán, México. Overlaying of resulting suitability maps was also applied for identifying potential conflicting areas.     

Societal implications of a changing Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid change: sea ice is being lost, waters are warming, coastlines are eroding, species are moving into new areas, and more. This paper explores the many ways that a changing Arctic Ocean affects societies in the Arctic and around the world. In the Arctic, Indigenous Peoples are again seeing their food security threatened and cultural continuity in danger of disruption. Resource development is increasing as is interest in tourism and possibilities for trans-Arctic maritime trade, creating new opportunities and also new stresses. Beyond the Arctic, changes in sea ice affect mid-latitude weather, and Arctic economic opportunities may re-shape commodities and transportation markets. Rising interest in the Arctic is also raising geopolitical tensions about the region. What happens next depends in large part on the choices made within and beyond the Arctic concerning global climate change and industrial policies and Arctic ecosystems and cultures.     

小学生水域安全知信行问卷编制及信效度检验

在文献检索和访谈的基础上,提出有关编制适用于我国小学生水域安全调研的知信行(KAP)问卷的理论构想。以此为基础,编制小学生水域安全知信行初始问卷。经初测(N=495)和正式测量(N=2 554),运用探索性因素分析方法筛选条目,用克朗巴赫法评价同质性信度,据内容效度比评价内容效度,用探索性和验证性因素分析方法评价结构效度。问卷包含4个维度(水域安全知识、技能、态度和高危行为)共39个条目。问卷的信效度检验结果表明,问卷的因素结构、同质性信度、内容效度和结构效度均达到心理测量学的要求。小学生水域安全知信行问卷具有较为满意的信、效度,较好地反映了问卷设计的理论构想。     

River use profile of the Central Niger Delta based on traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK)

The Central Niger Delta is made up of a network of rivers and creeks that constitute the inland surface waters. These surface waters have historically influenced settlement patterns and are of diverse use to residents of the Central Niger Delta. Surface water like many ecological system are complex, whose complexity has been associated with seasonal variability. Traditional knowledge (TK), traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and the traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK) of residents of four rural communities in the Central Niger Delta have been explored in developing a river use profile of rural communities of the Central Niger Delta. A questionnaire survey has been carried out in four communities, two each from the Otuoke and Kolo Creeks. The result shows that river use varies across seasons and affected by: physico-chemical water quality and characteristics of surface water; the hydrological characteristics; the biological/ecological characteristics; cultural use and demand; need for development projects; and access to this vital resource. Fishing constitute one of the major livelihood source in the Central Niger Delta and the TELK of fishers in the sample communities have specifically been explored to understanding fishing patterns across seasons. The five seasons identified from this study are: flood season; flood recession season; dry season; early rainy season; and rainy season. Therefore, the thesis of this paper is that there is the need to balance the current usage of surface water in the developing world such as the Central Niger Delta with the demand for development as well as future use if development is to meet the criteria for equitable development. The river use profile could be a promising tool in planning for equitable development.

The extraction and utilization of local and scientific geospatial knowledge within the Bluff oyster fishery, New Zealand

This paper assesses the Bluff oyster fishery in New Zealand as a case study in common pool resource management. It discusses ways in which modern information technology, augmented by low-tech data gathering strategies and community ethnography, can be used to produce an integrated scientific and local knowledge-inspired fishery database that lends itself to fostering collaboration in resource management and planning. The specific context and state of the oyster fishery in Bluff are described. Issues regarding undocumented and ephemeral intergenerational knowledge, much of which is geospatial in nature, on the fishery, the current crisis that many see in the future of the fishery, and a lack of cohesion or common sense of purpose between the stakeholder groups are discussed. It is argued that the digital resource that results from the integration of local and scientific knowledge and the potential community building processes that can ensue from collaboration and dialogue around this centrepiece are of central importance in developing an oyster fishery management plan that is holistic in concept and sustainable in purpose.     

基于文献分析工具的国内水资源管理研究论文的可视化综述

以1991~2013年CNKI数据库收录的2 263篇国内水资源管理研究核心期刊论文为数据来源,利用文献计量学引文网络分析工具CiteSpace,绘制国内水资源管理研究的知识图谱。分析了我国水资源管理研究的时间分布、机构力量分布、作者分布、期刊分布、学科和基金分布以及研究热点和趋势。〖JP2〗结果显示：中国科学院和中国水利水电等科研系统实力较强,水利水电工程学、资源科学、环境科学与资源利用是文献分布的主要学科,国家自然科学基金、国家重点基础研究发展计划（973）等是主要基金来源,宏观层面的水资源管理制度和政策研究、流域综合管理和水资源的经济属性等是目前的研究热点,最严格水资源管理制度和水生态文明建设等内容将是未来一段时间的主题     

The Introduction of the Precautionary Principle in Danish Environmental Policy: The Case of Plant Growth Retardants

In this paper, we investigate the Precautionary Principle (PP) in action. Precaution is a fairly new concept in environmental policy. It emerged back in the 1960s but did not consolidate until the 1980s, as it formed part of the major changes taking place in environmental policies at that time. The PP is examined in three contexts. Firstly, we look at the meaning of the concept and how it is disseminated through the media and public discourses to the political arenas of Denmark. Then we examine how the idea is adopted to the political level. Thirdly, we look briefly at the first Danish translation of the principle into a practical context, which includes translations into concrete scientific practices. It is concluded that if the PP shall be more than a simple “idea” or a frequently used “term,” emphasis must be put on the transformation of the concept into concrete practices, like e.g., the alternative testing regimes that we show in the case of plant growth-retarding pesticides presented in this paper.